


The Color of my Fate

by benicemurphy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff, Language of Flowers, M/M, Soulmates, Time Skips, blink and you miss it implied Allurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 11:15:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19722571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benicemurphy/pseuds/benicemurphy
Summary: Keith and Shiro grow together over the years with the help of a very persistent plant.





	The Color of my Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pichux](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pichux/gifts).



> Hello! I got Pichux as my giftee for the Sheith Flower Exhange! :) I loved your list of flowers and prompts, so I hope you like what I came up with! Enjoy! <3

**Keith, 17**

Beating the last of Shiro’s records was a definite milestone for Keith. It would have been for anyone, but for Keith especially, it meant that not only did he belong there, he _excelled_ there. He didn’t just “get by” with help from Shiro. According to his sim scores, he might even be a better pilot than Shiro, though if Keith were being honest, he doubted he could ever _actually_ be better than Shiro at anything. Beating his sims was one thing, but it was a totally different thing to get in an aircraft and fly the way Shiro could. He was _amazing_.

Still, it felt good as hell to be good at something.

The best part was that Shiro was always so proud of him. He was never bitter about falling to second place, just encouraged Keith to do more, keep trying, never stop reaching for the stars, never give up on himself. Without Shiro, Keith would never have gotten where he was. He would have just been some lonely kid tossed around from home to home, family to family, until he would eventually age out of foster system and live his life alone in solitude. He would never be able to express the amount of gratitude he had toward Shiro. _Never_. All he could do was make sure that Shiro knew, always, that he would have someone there cheering for him, fighting for him, and waiting for him. Shiro deserved the whole world, so the least Keith could do was give him his.

It was a surprise, to say the least, when he arrived back at his room after dinner that night to find a bouquet of flowers on his nightstand. Upon further inspection, he found a note attached: “ _Amazing job, Hotshot. Knew you could do it. PS - I wanted to get you my favorites from back home, but these were the closest I could get. Hope you like them._ ”

It didn’t need to be signed, because Keith knew who sent them. Only one person in the whole world called him by that nickname. Only one person in the whole world cared enough to do something so nice for him. It was a little overwhelming, and he felt tears of gratitude and affection well up in his eyes before swallowing the emotion back down. He took a moment to admire the odd, horn-shaped blooms. They smelled sweet, almost sugary, and although Keith had never been around many flowers, having spent his entire life in the desert, he already knew those funny little blossoms were his new favorites, too.

**Keith, 18**

Getting Shiro back was the biggest middle finger to the Garrison that Keith could have possibly imagined. He was _right_ , damn it, and more importantly, Shiro was safe. He was home.

In a way, Keith felt like he should thank the Garrison; it was because they kicked him out that he could dedicate all of his free time to finding a way to get Shiro back. It was because of that freedom that he could break Shiro out and bring him home where he belonged — with Keith, away from people who only wanted to exploit him.

He found Shiro the next morning outside of the shack that had been Keith’s home for the past year, alone and watching the sunrise. It made his heart soar, the familiar sight of Shiro against the backdrop of the desert. No matter how committed he had been to finding him, no matter how positive he had been that he was right and Shiro was still out there somewhere, there were undeniably times that Keith thought he’d never get to see him again.

“I have something for you,” Keith said when the sun had risen. The others were still asleep, sprawled across the floor of the shack, and although they would be awake soon and Keith would have to explain to them the fruits of his efforts over the past year, there was one thing he wanted to show Shiro without the prying eyes of three people who were, for all intents and purposes, strangers.

Shiro gave him a questioning look, but didn’t protest when Keith led him around to a small plot behind the shack.

“Keith, what is this?” he asked.

Keith stooped to pluck a bloom from his tiny little patch of garden — not even a garden, really, just one spot where, by some miracle, he had managed to grow something beautiful in the middle of a barren wasteland.

“I found them growing in some caves a little ways away from here. I don’t know how they got there, but…” _They reminded me of you_ , he didn’t say. _I just wanted to feel close to you_ , he didn’t say. “I just liked having them around. Made the place feel a little more like home.”

He stood to face Shiro again and offered the single bloom in his outstretched hand. Shiro took it with an unreadable expression, then, without explanation, pulled out the stem end and licked it.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, alarmed. Shiro smiled and reached down to pluck another bloom and hand it to Keith.

“They taste like honey,” he said. “Try it, it’s good.”

Keith shot him a dubious look but didn’t argue. Trusting Shiro not to lead him astray, he swallowed down his doubts and mimicked what Shiro had done.

“Oh,” he whispered. The look on Shiro’s face was almost serene for the first time since they’d been reunited. “Why do they taste like that?”

Shiro shrugged. “Dunno. I used to love finding these as a kid, though. Especially in the summer, running around outside all day. Back when things were…” Less complicated. Easy. Not completely fucked up.

Neither of them finished the sentence. They just sat together in silence against the wall of the shack, soaking up the last bit of peace they might have for a long, long time.

“Yo! Shiro! Keith!” Lance’s voice pierced the peaceful silence, reminding Keith that the time for basking in the glow of Shiro’s return was over; it was time to get down to business.

“Guess we’d better go,” Shiro said, standing to dust himself off and then offering Keith a hand to help him up as well.

“Yeah,” Keith said.

Time to get to work.

**Shiro, 25**

It was unfortunate to have to leave Keith behind without any information yet about the Red Lion. Shiro wished he could stay and help Keith find it, but he knew that Keith could handle finding it himself if need be, and taking Pidge to the planet with her lion was a necessity. No one was allowed to go alone to alien planets, especially someone who had never piloted anything before.

The planet was beautiful and serene. It reminded Shiro of the jungles on Earth, with trees and water and flowers and shrubbery everywhere. Even the creatures and animals were almost Earth-like in appearance. 

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, then, when he stumbled across a small patch of honeysuckle growing not far from the location of the Green Lion. Coral, like the ones they had back home. He almost didn’t take any, guilty for picking them when there didn’t appear to be many around, but a feeling in his gut told him that Keith would really appreciate the gesture. Shiro had definitely appreciated it just a few short days ago.

He waited until the last minute to pick them, not wanting them to be out of water for too long. When Pidge emerged victoriously piloting the Green Lion, Shiro took a small handful, stems and all, and stepped into the ship to head back to the castle.

“What are those?” Pidge asked. “They look like honeysuckle.”

“I think they are,” he said, which elicited a quizzical (and somewhat judgmental) look from Pidge. “They smell the same, too.”

He tipped the flowers toward her to let her take a sniff. She nodded, clearly unsure what to do with that information.

“I don’t know how it’s possible that they’re growing on an alien planet no one on Earth has ever heard of in a quadrant of the universe we didn’t think we’d ever be able to reach, but here they are.”

“Why’d you take them? Thinking about redecorating the castle?” He could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

“I just like them,” he said with a shrug. Sure, it wasn’t the full story, but she didn’t need to know. It was something between him and Keith. It felt like something private that he didn’t want to share with anyone else.

Pidge didn’t say anything else on the matter, and they made it back to the castle in no time, welcomed by the news of the location of the Red Lion.

He handed off the flowers to Coran and asked him to find something to keep them in while he, Pidge, and Keith took off to find Keith’s lion. Coran gave him a peculiar look, though he was a bit of a peculiar guy, so Shiro didn’t think much of it. He turned on his heal after securing a promise that the flowers would be well taken care of.

Later that night, when the others were sleeping soundly in their new quarters, Shiro lay awake in bed studying the vase of honeysuckle on his bedside table. There hadn’t been time to give them to Keith earlier, and now it was probably too late. He’d have to wait until morning.

Just as the thought occurred to him, his comm lit up with a message from Keith.

_Are you up?_

He responded with a simple yes and waited. Not even a minute later, there was a tentative knock on his door, and Shiro opened to find Keith looking more exhausted than he’d ever seen him.

Keith took four steps inside before spotting the flowers.

“How did you—”

“Found them on the planet with Pidge’s lion,” he explained. “I… brought them back for you.”

Keith blinked up at him. “For me?”

Shiro smiled. “Yeah. Who else?”

The returning smile on Keith’s face made the entire ordeal more than worth it. He’d go back to the planet alone to get more if he thought it would make Keith happy after being in so much pain for so long.

Shiro climbed back into his bed and patted the space beside him. Keith followed without hesitation. It wasn’t something they did often, but a couple of times when Keith had been having a particularly hard time at the Garrison and needed comfort, Shiro had let him stay with him through the night. This time, it was a comfort for both of them. They drifted off easily without another word.

**Keith, 21**

Two years. He needed it, really. Time to get to know his mom, time to raise his new wolf companion, time to grow up.

As it turned out, sharing his most intimate memories and deepest hopes and fears for two whole years was a great way to bond with his estranged alien mom. The visions were coming even more often as they neared the end of their journey. Some were tough to see in the beginning: the ones of his parents, watching his mother leave, standing at his father’s grave, some of the worst parts of foster care. Others were better: the time his pop came home with a big stuffed hippo, watching his parents fall in love, the time he stole Shiro’s car.

There were a lot of visions of Shiro. Some were from the past, showing Shiro going to bat for him again and again and again, or instructing Keith’s class on the simulators, or zipping through the desert on their hoverbikes. Most of his happy memories involved Shiro, he noticed, and it didn’t get past Krolia, either. 

A few months after they arrived on the space whale, it had been hard not the acknowledge Shiro’s unmistakable presence in Keith’s life.

“He’s very important, isn’t he?” Krolia had asked.

“Yeah,” he’d said. “He’s everything.”

They still had not been very familiar with each other at the time, so nothing more was said on the topic for a long time. Still, more memories flashed, both happy and sad, almost all involving Shiro in one way or another. The images that unsettled Keith the most were the ones from different possible futures. There were futures that made his heart clench with want and hope and longing, and others that nearly debilitated him with the ache of heartbreak and loss. When the most hurtful ones appeared, Keith found it difficult to even speak. Eventually, Krolia learned which flashes of future hurt the most, and to wait for Keith to speak when he was ready.

It wasn’t until they were almost to the end that one particular memory flashed — one they hadn’t seen before, and that Keith had nearly forgotten in all of the chaos since he had first gotten Shiro back three years ago.

It showed a familiar simulation from the Garrison from Keith’s time as a cadet. He recognized it immediately. He had spent _months_ working on that simulation, trying to get past a tricky spot that only one other person had managed to navigate successfully. He remembered how frustrated he would feel each time he crashed, thinking — no, _knowing_ — that he could do better. He also remembered the feelings of relief and pride once he finally did it, and then kept going. He kept going for a long time, totally blowing the previous high score out of the water. When the simulation finally ended, he remembered thinking it would be a _long_ time before anyone beat the high score again.

Currently, he wondered if anyone had. He had no idea anymore how much time had passed on Earth since they’d left. Longer than three years? Shorter? He wasn’t even sure how much time had passed for the other Paladins and Blades since he and Krolia had left for this mission.

The memory cut from the simulation showing Keith’s new high score to his tiny bedroom at the Garrison, empty save for a new vase of flowers.

Krolia inhaled sharply beside him. “What are those?” she asked.

He turned to her with a question on his face. “I’m not sure what they’re called.”

She was quiet for a moment, then stated, “They’re very beautiful.”

“They are,” he agreed. “And they smell nice. Shiro showed me how you can eat them, too.”

“Eat them?”

“Well, not eat them, exactly. More like suck the nectar out of them.”

Krolia nodded, accepting that answer. “What do they taste like?”

“Honey,” he immediately responded. “They’re sweet.”

The memory faded again, and they were left with only the familiar view of the environment that had been their home for the past two years. After a few minutes, Krolia spoke again.

“Where did you get them?”

Keith closed his eyes and lay back with his hands pillowed under his head. He felt at peace. They were close to completing their mission, finally, and then he could go back and maybe get to see Shiro again sometime soon.

“Shiro gave them to me. For breaking his record. That’s what the memory was showing.”

Krolia said nothing.

The next morning, a patch of the very same flowers bloomed in the cave they called home.

Keith was overwhelmed with the desire to take them. Surely it was a sign that the morning after the abyss chose to show him that particular memory, the exact same flower sprouted next to him on the back of an alien species. It wasn’t possible, though. They still had to find the source of the quintessence and then make it all the way back out of the abyss and back to the Blades base.

When he found the flowers again after meeting Romelle and learning of the hidden Altean colony, he didn’t hesitate to take a handful, roots and all. He would find a way to keep them alive somehow.

Setting a course for the Castle of Lions rather than Blade headquarters was nerve-racking. It had been _two years_. He didn’t know if any of the Paladins would even want to see him again. Yes, it had been necessary, but it had still been a point of contention between them, and to be gone for _two years_ meant that they had surely moved on and forgotten about him.

Still, he took care of his floral treasure as best he could, and they miraculously remained alive until they completed the return trip home.

_Home_. Funny how he still considered the castle his home. Or maybe it wasn’t the castle at all.

After a meeting, and another meeting, and a third meeting, and a lot of bickering, Keith was a bit on edge. Shiro found him later that night in the observation deck of the castle.

“You look older,” he said as a form of greeting. Keith grunted. “What was it like out there?”

Keith waited a few minutes before answering. Shiro waited patiently seated next to him.

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Keith finally said.

Shiro hummed. “Try me.”

“It was… weird.” Keith turned to study Shiro’s profile. Handsome, rugged, gentle, beautiful. “There were these flashes, like physical projections of our own minds. Like, hopes and dreams and fears and stuff.”

Shiro turned to face him, and Keith was suddenly made aware of how close they were sitting. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Keith breathed.

They studied each other for a few minutes, allowing their eyes to roam across each other’s features. Shiro mostly looked the same.

“How long has it been since I left?” Keith finally asked.

Shiro blinked. “A couple of months?”

“A couple of months,” Keith repeated. “So you’re… still twenty-six?”

“Yes?” Shiro’s face squished up in adorable confusion, his big ears sticking out even more than usual. He was just _so cute_ , Keith couldn’t stop a little smile from forming on his own lips. “Should I be some other age?”

“I’m twenty-one,” Keith offered with no other explanation.

Shiro looked at him dumbstruck, and Keith loved how fun it was to watch as realization hit him.

“You were gone for…” He paused to do the mental math. “Two years? At least?” 

Keith nodded. “It was good, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s nice, you know, having a mom.” He dropped his eyes, afraid of the vulnerability that might show in them. “Never thought I’d get to experience it.”

Shiro reached out and laid a hand on his knee. It felt nice, like the usual comforting touch to his shoulder, but more intimate, too. It made Keith’s heart flutter in his chest. Wow, he had really missed Shiro.

“I’m really happy for you, Keith,” Shiro said, voice low and velvety soft. It struck Keith again just how close they were. It was too much, almost. After being away for two years, being so close to Shiro now, older and a little wiser and a lot more confident in himself, it felt different. It felt charged in a way that it never had before.

“Thanks,” he whispered. “I’m happy, too.”

A few tense moments passed as they shared breaths. They were so close. Shiro’s hand tightened on his knee. It wouldn’t take much to lean forward. Just the smallest distance to cross, and then maybe, finally, he would know what Shiro’s lips felt like against his own. It would be so easy…

Keith pulled away.

“Follow me,” he said as he stood and dusted off the seat of his uniform. It took Shiro a moment, but he eventually got up and did as Keith requested.

Keith led them back to his ship and into his sleeping quarters. He knew what it probably looked like to Shiro after the tension between them just seconds earlier, and he maybe took a little more pleasure than he should have in hearing Shiro’s sharp inhale at the implication. But that wasn’t why they were there.

“In the abyss, things were different than we expected,” he began. “It was beautiful, but wrong.” Shiro stayed quiet and listened, watching intently, no doubt searching for a clue as to where this was going. Keith turned away and moved to a corner of the room not visible from the door. “There was life everywhere, but it felt empty. We were there for a long time. And then when we found Romelle, things got even weirder.” He turned just enough to observe Shiro from the corner of his eye. “I thought about you a lot,” he admitted. “It was hard not to. You’ve been a really important part of my life.” He watched long enough to see Shiro’s eyes widen and his face flush. “So when I saw these, I knew it was a sign. Especially since they managed to survive this whole time with no light or water.”

He turned to offer the sweet blooms to Shiro with his arms outstretched. They were just as vibrant as the day he found them thriving beside the river.

Shiro reached out tentatively to take them. “How is this possible?” he mused, seemingly to himself. “How does this keep being possible?” He took the flowers and cradled them to himself.

Keith shrugged. “Dunno.”

“It’s amazing.”

_You’re amazing_ , he wanted to say. Not now, though. Not yet. It wasn’t time yet.

**Shiro, 26**

The restoration of New Altea was like nothing any of them could have imagined. Allura and Coran, especially, were overwhelmed to the point that it was difficult to even speak. Shiro felt emotion well up inside himself in reaction to his friends, so strong that he had to steady his breathing, and he couldn’t even imagine how the others must feel. Romelle, although she had never been a part of the first Altea, was going through the unique experience of immersing herself in her own culture for the first time. In a way, her experience was one with which Shiro could actually relate. He had been young when he left Japan, and having spent most of his life in the U.S., he often felt disconnected from his roots even though he considered himself Japanese.

The rest of the Paladins seemed to unanimously agree to leave the Alteans to themselves. Although it was obvious that Lance didn’t want to leave Allura’s side, even he understood the significance of it all.

As they walked, Shiro and Keith seemed to naturally drift to the back and let the others lead. All around them was flora and life as far as the eye could see. Colors upon colors from the lowest sprouts to the tallest trees. It was like walking into a world of color after seeing nothing but shades of grey. Shiro couldn’t even begin to comprehend how bright and vivid the world looked even after having seen some of the most beautiful and bizarre things he could possibly imagine throughout his last few years of space exploration.

Beside him, Keith seemed to be similarly entranced with the landscape. When he looked over and caught Shiro’s gaze, even his eyes seemed more vibrant, closer to bright purple than the deep blue-grey to which he had grown accustomed. Keith smiled, something comfortable and at ease that used to come so rarely for him, and it took Shiro’s breath away. _Unmatched_ was the word that came to mind. Everything about Keith was unmatched. He was in a league all his own, and Shiro wanted to step up and stand with him.

With more confidence than he really felt, he reached out and tangled his fingers loosely with Keith’s. Keith’s smile widened, but if he was surprised or put off by the gesture, he didn’t show it. They continued to walk, silently deciding to slow their pace to give them a little bit of time alone.

The foliage thickened as they walked. It almost seemed to bloom before their eyes, as no matter where they went, it grew thicker and thicker.

“Pretty here,” Keith remarked after they had walked for a while.

Shiro squeezed the hand he was still holding. “Beautiful.”

They had come to a stop in what should have been a large clearing, and although it _was_ clear of trees, the flowers filling and surrounding the clearing were so tall and dense that they had to stop before entering.

It was _breathtaking_ , like nothing Shiro had ever seen before. It was like something from a dream. There were flowers of every color, with what looked to be the Altean equivalent of butterflies fluttering across the tops of the blooms. From above, sunbeams lit the center of the clearing, and the air smelled sweet like—

“Honeysuckle.”

Shiro bent to pick up a honeysuckle he had previously failed to notice directly in front of his feet. Looking closer, he saw that there were even more honeysuckles around himself and Keith, like they had just bloomed at their feet. He turned his gaze to Keith, who was also admiring the flowers around them with wonder in his eyes.

“That’s what they’re called?” Keith asked. Shiro huffed out a small laugh.

“After all these years, you didn’t know what they were called?”

Keith shook his head. “You never told me.”

“Oh, sorry,” Shiro said, though all he felt was a stomach full of butterflies and an anticipation he couldn’t explain.

Keith turned to look out into the center of the clearing where most of the rays converged. “I feel like we should go there,” he said.

“I’ll go wherever you go,” Shiro replied. Keith met his eyes with a softness in his features that Shiro had seldom seen before. With an answering squeeze to their entwined fingers, Keith stepped into the thick of flowers. As they walked, the plants around them naturally parted to let them pass. “Guess it wasn’t as thick as it looks,” Shiro commented when they reached the middle.

As soon as they arrived, Shiro’s whole being felt warmer. Not just from the outside where the sun shone down, but from the inside, too; a bone deep warmth that grew from his core and spread to his limbs, hottest where his hand was still connected with Keith’s.

“How did you find this place?” A voice from behind them startled Shiro, and he whirled around to find an unfamiliar Altean woman at the edge of the meadow.

He exchanged a glance with Keith, who simply shrugged, then turned back to the woman watching serenely from her post.

“We just walked and ended up here,” he said. “Should we not be here?” He wondered if maybe they were disturbing some sacred ground or trespassing on royal property.

“It’s curious,” the woman said. “I have not seen anyone in this place in several thousand deca-phoebs. Who are you?”

“We are Paladins of Voltron. My name is Takashi Shirogane, and this is—”

“No,” the woman interrupted. “I care not for titles or occupations. Who are _you_?”

Shiro wasn’t sure how to respond. Who was he? He was Takashi Shirogane. Shiro, to most. Paladin of Voltron, Captain of the Atlas… Who else was he?

Keith didn’t seem to be doing any better with the question. Keith. Who was Keith? Keith was… Yes, he was a Paladin of Voltron, but he was _so much more_ than that.

Keith was the strongest person Shiro had ever met, the best, most loyal friend anyone could ever have, the fiercest fighter in the universe, but also the softest heart. Keith was the ground beneath his feet to keep him standing when all he wanted was to fall. He was the sun in the sky that kept him warm and lit his way when he felt lost.

“Keith is my world,” Shiro whispered to himself. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the man beside him, so ethereal in his beauty, inside and out. The wind whipped his hair around his face, and his eyes sparkled that bright, vibrant purple that only seemed to deepen the longer they stayed on New Altea.

Keith looked at him with stars in his eyes, Shiro realized. He always had, probably, and Shiro had been too blind to see it. Keith looked at him right now with a look that was so familiar but at the same time so new that it nearly caused him to tear up.

They didn’t break eye contact when the woman turned to Keith and said, “And you?”

Keith’s intense gaze didn’t waver. “Shiro is _everything_ to me,” he proclaimed emphatically. “I’d be nothing without him.”

Shiro’s heart rate picked up double time. Their surroundings seemed to fade away until all he could see was Keith, surrounded by the sweet smell of honeysuckle.

“Hm,” the woman mused somewhere in the distance. “Can you see the bond?”

Shiro tore his eyes away from Keith’s to look down at their joined hands. The heat was more intense than ever, but it didn’t burn. Where their fingers were laced together, they glowed a bright blue.

Keith was the one who answered with a breathy, “Yeah.” Shiro couldn’t form any words, overcome with emotion as he was. Keith lifted his unoccupied hand to Shiro’s face to ghost his fingertips across Shiro’s cheekbone. It was hot where they connected, and below his eye Shiro could see the same blue glow until Keith pulled his hand away. “I can’t believe this,” Keith whispered. Shiro could see now that there were tears forming in his eyes. Shiro brought his own hand up to wipe away a fallen one and admire the streak of blue light left in the wake of his thumb before it faded away again.

Shiro swallowed past the lump in throat. “What does it mean?” he asked, to the woman or Keith, he didn’t know or care. “Is this why we kept finding the honeysuckle everywhere across the universe?”

The woman still did not move from her place at the edge of the meadow. “These flowers symbolize the strongest connection that can exist between two beings. They bloom anywhere they feel the bonds of fate.”

Keith’s breath hitched as tears began to fall freely from his eyes. Shiro’s own eyes stung with the pressure of tears building behind them.

“I knew there had to be a reason you couldn’t let me go,” Shiro joked. Keith shoved him with his free hand, then reeled him back in by their joined hands and pulled him to rest their foreheads together. Shiro settled his hand on the small of Keith’s back and pulled him in even closer. Everything glowed. The smell of sweet nectar was nearly overwhelming.

“I will _never_ let you go,” Keith breathed. “You’re a part of me. Without you, I’m missing half of myself.”

Upon hearing those words, Shiro felt his own tears spill over. He didn’t bother to wipe them away. It would be pointless, as steadily as they were coming.

“I love you.” Shiro took a shaky breath and tried to pour all of the emotion in his soul into his eyes and words. “I love you more than anyone or anything in the universe. I — god, I _love_ you, Keith. I love you so damned much.”

With nothing left to say, he pulled Keith in for a passionate kiss, and everything went white.

**Keith, After**

“You knew, didn’t you?” he asked Krolia as they moved the rest of his meager belongings into his new accommodations on the Atlas. “About the soul bond.”

Krolia shot him an amused smile. “I thought it best you learn about it yourself. It didn’t seem as fun to just give it away.”

Keith laughed, bright and unabashed. He did that more often now. It was so much easier to be happy when his soul finally felt whole.

“Besides,” she added, “it would have been obvious even without the flowers. Ask any of the Paladins or Blades.”

“The _Blades_ knew?” Keith asked in disbelief. “They barely even saw us together!”

“They saw you together at the Trials,” she said with a shrug. “It seems that was all they needed.”

The door slid open with a _whoosh_ , announcing Shiro’s return with a box of pizza and six-pack of beer. “Thought it would be nice to celebrate,” he said in response to Keith’s raised eyebrow. “What are you two talking about?”

“You,” Krolia answered. Keith shot her a look that said, _be cool_. She rolled her eyes and ducked her head with a smirk.

“Oh? What about me?” Shiro set down the pizza and beer and joined Keith in helping him unpack the box he was working on.

“About how everyone but you two knew you were meant to be together.”

Shiro threw his head back with a laugh that made Keith’s heart skip a beat. Rather than respond, he walked around to wrap Keith in a tight hug from behind and laid a gentle kiss on his cheek. “We figured it out,” he whispered, close enough to Keith’s ear that Keith doubted Krolia heard it.

“Yeah.” Keith twisted in Shiro’s arms and smoothed a hand up the soft skin of his neck to gently cup his jaw. “We did.” He didn’t even have to pull for Shiro to bend down and kiss him sweetly.

“I love you,” Keith whispered against Shiro’s lips. The ring on his finger caught the light and gleamed where it rested against Shiro’s sharp jaw.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Flower - Coral Honeysuckle
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/benicemurph)
> 
> <3 <3 <3


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